Systems and apparatus for the light-based communication of service orders and personal objects identification

ABSTRACT

Light-based systems for communicating information associated with service orders and/or the identification of personal objects are disclosed. A personal mobile electronic communication device is used in conjunction with a communication network and a lighting controller to communicate service orders by lighting with one or more individually controllable luminaries in a lighting network. A personal mobile electronic communication device is, alternatively or additionally, used in conjunction with a communication network, a memory, and a lighting controller controlling to indicate by lighting whether there is an association between the personal mobile electronic communication device and a personal item.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is directed generally to lighting systems andapparatus suitable for communications. More particularly, the presentinvention is directed to light-based systems for communicatinginformation associated with service orders and light-based systems forthe identification of personal objects.

BACKGROUND

Digital lighting technologies, i.e. illumination based on semiconductorlight sources, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), today offer aviable alternative to traditional fluorescent, HID, and incandescentlamps. Recent advances in LED technology coupled with its manyfunctional advantages such as high energy conversion and opticalefficiency, durability, and lower operating costs, has led to thedevelopment of efficient and robust full-spectrum lighting sources thatenable a variety of lighting effects. For example, fixtures embodyingthese lighting sources may include one or more LEDs capable of producingdifferent colors, e.g. red, green, and blue, as well as a processor forindependently controlling the output of the LEDs in order to generate avariety of colors and color-changing lighting effects, as discussed inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,016,038 and 6,211,626, incorporated herein byreference.

Recent developments in digital lighting technologies such as LED-basedlighting systems, has made the precise control of digital or solid-statelighting a reality. Consequently, light-based systems are used today tovisually communicate information to individuals. For example, patronswaiting to be seated at a dining establishment are often provided withpagers that visually indicate when the staff is ready to seat them.

While advances in digital lighting technologies has given rise toprecisely controllable lighting, significant advances made in the fieldof mobile electronic communications has similarly led to the developmentof sophisticated personal mobile electronic communication devices suchas personal digital assistants and cellular phones that enableindividuals to receive and transmit messages in a multitude of formatsincluding text, voice and image. The tremendous demand created by theirwireless communications capabilities, convenient small size and relativelow cost has consequently resulted in making personal mobile electroniccommunication devices ubiquitous.

Although the fields of mobile communications and solid-state lightinghave seen great advances, systems that combine the use of controllablesolid-state lighting and personal mobile electronic communications tofurther enrich communications are lacking. For example, controllablelighting is only marginally used in circumstances where verbalcommunication may be difficult. Such circumstances include, for example,crowded spaces such as restaurants and bars where high noise levels makeoral communication of orders ineffective, resulting in service that maybe out of order or frustratingly slow. Such circumstances also include,by way of example, gatherings where people are served beverages insimilar looking glasses, making it difficult for individuals todistinguish between their beverage and their neighbor's beverage.

For example, waiter paging systems exist currently that includetransmitters at tables for transmitting signals indicating the need tocommunicate with wait staff, page units carried by the wait-staff, andcentral units for receiving and relaying the transmitted signals topager units. While such systems allow the wait staff sufficientmobility, these paging systems are, however, sub-optimal because theydepend on patrons remaining in a particular location, typically a table.And if the transmitters in such paging systems were not tethered to thetables, providing patrons with more mobility, the paging systems wouldchallenge the wait-staff to locate patrons.

Similarly, past attempts at addressing the problem of identifying one'spersonal item, such as a beverage glass, in circumstances where multiplepersons present have items that appear similar or identical, have failedto leverage the advances made in both the controllable solid statelighting and mobile electronic communications fields. For example,attempts at solving this problem range from systems requiring batterypowered glasses illuminated with different colors, to systems involvinglarge illuminated surfaces capable of identifying objects, to systemsrequiring each person in such a circumstance to wear a colored elasticband that matches a similar band placed on his/her personal item. Thesesolutions are, once again, sub-optimal because they either require theinstallation of expensive equipment such as large special-purposesurfaces, or otherwise require the very individuals that are to benefitfrom the solution to themselves participate in remembering adistinguishing feature associated with their personal item, such as acolor.

SUMMARY

The inventors herein recognized that there is a real need in the art tocombine advances made in the realms of controllable solid state lightingwith advances made in the realms of mobile communications. Moreparticularly, the inventors recognized that current solutions tocommunication problems in circumstances where verbal communication maybe difficult do not leverage advantages provided by the advances in boththe controllable solid state lighting and mobile electroniccommunications fields, choosing instead to focus on one at the exclusionof the other. Accordingly, a combination of controllable solid statelighting and mobile electronic communications disclosed herein has thecapacity to provide particularly advantageous solutions in a multitudeof circumstances where either technology operating alone is inadequate.Thus, the present disclosure is directed at systems and apparatus forlight-based communication of information, for example, associated withservice orders and/or personal object identification, using mobileelectronic communication.

Some embodiments of the present invention involve the use of a personalmobile electronic communication device in an establishment to transmit aservice order to a communication network also accessible to theestablishment. For example, in a specific embodiment, the presentinvention involves the use of a cell phone in a bar to transmit abeverage order to the communication network also accessible to theestablishment. The communication network may then cause the lightingnetwork in the establishment to control individual luminaires in orderto illuminate the individual placing the service order with a colorcorresponding to the beverage or other item ordered by the individual.This exemplary illumination would at once visually communicate to theservice provider (1) the need to prepare a beverage or other order forthe illuminated individual, (2) the location of the individual withinthe premises, and (3) the specific order to be prepared for theindividual. A system providing such communication makes it unnecessaryfor individuals to both wait in lines in order to place orders andorally communicate orders to service providers, both undesirableactivities in crowded or noisy establishments.

Generally, in one aspect of the invention, a light-based system forcommunicating service orders includes a personal mobile electroniccommunication device, a processor, a communication network, and alighting controller. The personal mobile electronic communication devicetransmits a signal indicating the location of the device and anothersignal indicating a service order. The processor, upon receivinginformation indicative of the location of the personal device from thecommunication network, approximately ascertains the location of thepersonal mobile electronic communication device. The communicationnetwork receives these signals and transmits, in response, anillumination command. The lighting controller receives illuminationcommand transmitted by the communication network and controls anillumination proximate to the personal mobile electronic communicationdevice by one or more individually-controllable luminaires within alighting network such that the illumination visually indicates theservice order. In an alternative embodiment, the personal mobileelectronic communication device sends a signal from which the locationcan be determined. The personal mobile electronic communication devicemay emit a signal that contains no location information, but multipledetectors connected to the light-based system may calculate the locationbased on a comparison of signal arrival times at different detectors.

Other embodiments of the present invention involve the use of a personalmobile electronic communication device to identify a personal itemassociated with the carrier of the mobile communication device in avenue where other individuals are using similar items. Both the mobilecommunication device and the personal item of these embodiments areequipped with a component that facilitates its identification and itslocation. Such components may include, for example, RFID tags. In theseembodiments, a determination of the absolute approximate location ofboth the personal item and the personal mobile electronic communicationdevice is not necessary. It is sufficient, for example, if adetermination of the personal item's absolute approximate location iscoupled with a determination of the personal device's location relativeto the personal item. When the device comes in close proximity to thepersonal item, such as a glass, sensors within the venue may detect thisproximity and communicate it to a communication network accessible tothe venue. The communication network according to this example, may theninvoke the assistance of a processor in order to check a memory for anassociation between the proximally located device and item. The presenceof an association may indicate a match between the carrier of thepersonal mobile electronic communication device and the item. Based onthe existence of an association, a lighting controller, communicativelycoupled to the communication network, could temporarily illuminate theitem in order to indicate whether or not the device is associated withthe item. In other words, the illumination would therefore indicatewhether or not the item belongs to the carrier of the mobile device.

In another aspect of the invention, a light-based system for identifyingpersonal items includes a personal mobile electronic communicationdevice, a processor, a personal item, a memory, and a communicationnetwork. The personal mobile electronic communication device transmits asignal indicating a device identifier, and the personal item similarlytransmits a signal indicating an item identifier. The communicationnetwork receives both signals, determines the device identifier and itemidentifier included within the received signals, and transmits both theidentifiers. The processor receives the device identifier and itemidentifier transmitted by the communication network, approximatelyascertains the location of the personal device, checks the memory for apre-existing association between the device identifier and the itemidentifier, and generates an illumination command based upon whethersuch an association exists in the memory. The lighting controllerreceives the illumination command, and in response, controls anillumination proximate to the personal item by one or moreindividually-controllable luminaires within a lighting network. Theillumination thereby indicates whether an association between thepersonal device and the personal item exists in memory.

Another aspect of the invention is a light-based system for identifyingpersonal items that includes a personal item, a personal mobileelectronic communication device, a communication network, and a lightingcontroller. The personal mobile electronic communication device furtherincludes a memory, a receiver, a processor, and a transmitter. Thepersonal item transmits a signal encoding an item identifier, which thereceiver within the personal device receives. The processor within thepersonal device then determines the item identifier from the signalreceived by the receiver and checks the memory to determine if the itemidentifier exists within the memory. The processor generates a reportdependent on whether the item identifier is found within the memory. Thetransmitter within the personal device then transmits a signal encodingthe report and another signal indicating a location of the personaldevice. The communication network receives the two signals transmittedby the personal device's transmitter and transmits an illuminationcommand. The lighting controller receives the illumination command, andin response, controls an illumination proximate to the personal itemusing one or more individually-controllable luminaires within a lightingnetwork. The illumination thereby visually indicates whether the itemidentifier is included in the memory of the personal mobile electroniccommunication device.

There are several advantages to using a system in accordance variousembodiments and implementations of the present invention to identifypersonal items. First, the exemplary system avoids the need to haveindividuals involved remember a specific distinguishing characteristic,such as a color, with respect to their item. And second, the exemplarysystem does not require the constant exhibition of such distinguishingcharacteristics. For example, unlike some currently existing systems,there is no need here to have each item involved perpetually illuminatedwith distinguishing colors. Hence, the use of the exemplary system inaccordance with the present invention results in a savings in energyconsumption.

It should be appreciated that all combinations of the foregoing conceptsand additional concepts discussed in greater detail below (provided suchconcepts are not mutually inconsistent) are contemplated as being partof the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, allcombinations of claimed subject matter appearing at the end of thisdisclosure are contemplated as being part of the inventive subjectmatter disclosed herein. It should also be appreciated that terminologyexplicitly employed herein that also may appear in any disclosureincorporated by reference should be accorded a meaning most consistentwith the particular concepts disclosed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generallybeing placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a light-based system for communicating service ordersaccording to some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a light-based system for communicating service ordersaccording to some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3A illustrates a light-based system for identifying personal itemsaccording to some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3B illustrates exemplary steps executed by one or more componentsincluded in the embodiment of the light-based system illustrated in FIG.3A.

FIG. 4A illustrates a light-based system for identifying personal itemsaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4B illustrates exemplary steps executed by one or more componentsincluded in an embodiment of the light-based system illustrated in FIG.4A.

FIG. 5 illustrates a light-based system for identifying personal itemsaccording to some embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference is now made in detail to illustrative embodiments of theinvention, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a light-based system 10 for communicating serviceorders according to some embodiments of the invention. The systemincludes personal mobile electronic communication device (personaldevice) 100, communication network 200, processor 300, lightingcontroller 400, and one or more individually controllable luminaires 500in a lighting network.

Personal device 100 transmits a first signal that relates to itslocation via link 110. The personal device also transmits a secondsignal that corresponds to a service order via link 110. Exemplaryembodiments of suitable personal devices include a mobile phone, a SMSdevice, a personal digital assistant, a BLACKBERRY device, a IPHONEdevice, and a device including a programmable RFID tag. In someembodiments of system 10, personal device 100 may include processor 300.

Communication network 200 is a network used by lighting controller 400,processor 300, personal device 100, and the individually controllableluminaires 500, to exchange information. The communication network mayinclude, for example, a wired network, or a wireless network or acombination of different wired and wireless networks. Moreover, thecommunication network can involve different technologies, e.g., infraredcommunications, fiber optics communications, or computer networkingtechnologies, for example, Ethernet technologies. Communication network200 can also include a local area network (LAN) or a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN). For example, the communication network can includewireless computer communication technologies between the processor, thelighting controller and the personal device, combined with dedicatedhardwired communication technologies between the lighting controller andthe one or more individually controllable luminaires.

The term “network” as used herein refers to any interconnection of twoor more devices (including lighting controllers or processors) thatfacilitates the transport of information (e.g. for device control, datastorage, data exchange, etc.) between any two or more devices and/oramong multiple devices coupled to the network. As should be readilyappreciated, various implementations of networks suitable forinterconnecting multiple devices may include any of a variety of networktopologies and employ any of a variety of communication protocols.Additionally, in various networks according to the present disclosure,any one connection between two devices may represent a dedicatedconnection between the two systems, or alternatively a non-dedicatedconnection. In addition to carrying information intended for the twodevices, such a non-dedicated connection may carry information notnecessarily intended for either of the two devices (e.g., an opennetwork connection). Furthermore, it should be readily appreciated thatvarious networks of devices as discussed herein may employ one or morewireless, wire/cable, and/or fiber optic links to facilitate informationtransport throughout the network.

Communication network 200 receives signals from personal device 100 and,in response to these signals, transmits an illumination command via link120. According to some embodiments, the communication network mayadditionally ascertain information, such as an account number,pertaining to a payment facility associated with the personal device andtransfer a fee from the payment facility based on the service orderencoded in the first and second signals. In such embodiments,communication network 200 may ascertain information related to thepayment facility as a result of the carrier of the personal deviceproviding identifying information such as fingerprint data, a PINnumber, or a password.

Communication network 200 receives signals from personal device 100 vialink 110, transmits signals to lighting controller 400 via link 120, andtransmits signals to and receives signals from processor 300 via link130. Links 110, 120, and 130 can be considered part of communicationnetwork 200. Like other portions of communications network 200, links110, 120, and 130 can feature a variety of technologies and topologies.In particular, link 130 may feature different technologies or topologiesfor reception and transmission.

According to some embodiments of system 10, communication network 200may participate in tracking the movement of personal device 100. Forexample, the communication network may periodically receive a firstsignal indicative of the personal device's current location and a secondsignal corresponding to the current service order associated with thepersonal device. Based on these updated inputs, the communicationnetwork may transmit an updated illumination command via link 120.

According to some embodiments, system 10 features temporally ordering,or prioritizing, service orders received from multiple personal mobileelectronic communication devices. For example, communication network 200may receive a signal including information corresponding to the serviceorder associated with a first personal device 100 a, before it receivesanother signal including information corresponding to the service orderassociated with a second personal device 100 b. Under suchcircumstances, the system may associate a higher priority with theservice order from personal device 100 a and a lower priority with theservice order from personal device 100 b. Accordingly, the communicationnetwork may transmit a first illumination command indicative of thepriority of the service order associated with personal device 100 a anda second illumination command indicative of the priority of the serviceorder associated with personal device 100 b.

Lighting controller 400 may receive both illumination commands andproceed to control an illumination proximate to personal device 100 ausing one or more individually controllable luminaires 500 such that theillumination visually indicates not only the service order associatedwith personal device 100 a but also its higher priority. Likewise,lighting controller 400 may proceed to control an illumination proximateto personal device 100 b using one or more individually controllableluminaires 500 such that the illumination visually indicates not onlythe service order associated with personal device 100 b but also itslower priority. Similarly, system 10 may prioritize three of moreservice orders associated with corresponding personal devices.

Alternatively, services order can be temporarily ordered, orprioritized, based on additional or alternative criteria. For example,service orders from certain personal devices may be assigned higher orlower priority. Similarly, services orders from personal devices incertain locations may be assigned higher or lower priority. For example,service orders from personal devices recognized as associated withregular patrons may be assigned higher priorities as compared to serviceorders from personal devices not so recognized. And service orders frompersonal devices recognized to be located within priority zones orbooths may be assigned higher priorities as compared to services ordersfrom other regions within the same establishment.

Processor 300 approximately ascertains the location of each personaldevice 100 upon receiving first signals indicative of the locations ofthese personal devices through communication network 200. The processormay ascertain these locations by utilizing technologies such as GPS,assisted GPS, triangulation, signal strength analysis, and accelerometertechnology, or combinations of one of more of the foregoingtechnologies.

The term “processor” as used herein refers to any circuitry thatprocesses arithmetic and logic instructions, such as a centralprocessing unit of a computer capable of manipulating information.Embodiments of processor 300 include, but are not limited to,conventional microprocessors, application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

Lighting controller 400 receives the illumination command fromcommunication network 200 via link 120, and, in response to theillumination command, controls an illumination proximate to the personaldevice using the one or more individually-controllable luminaires 500 ina lighting network such that the illumination proximate to personaldevice 100 visually indicates the service order associated with it. Theillumination proximate to the personal device may visually indicateother information, such as the priority of the service order. Moreover,the lighting controller may receive multiple illumination commands fromcommunication network 200 via link 120.

The term “lighting controller” is used herein generally to describevarious apparatus relating to the operation of one or more luminaires. Alighting controller can be implemented in numerous ways. For example, acontroller may be implemented using dedicated hardware, a controllerthat employs one or more processors may be programmed using software(e.g., microcode) to perform various functions, and a controller may beimplemented as a combination of dedicated hardware and one or moreprocessors. Examples of controller components that may be employed invarious embodiments of the present disclosure include, but are notlimited to, conventional microprocessors, application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

According to some embodiments, lighting controller 400 controls theillumination proximate to personal device 100 by creating a visiblelight effect near or on a surface, such as a ceiling or a floor,proximate to the personal device. In other embodiments, the lightingcontroller additionally participates in tracking the movement ofpersonal device 100. For example, after communication network 200receives an updated signal via link 110 indicative of the personaldevice's current location and service order and transmits an updatedillumination command via link 120, the lighting controller may receivethe updated illumination command via link 120 from the communicationnetwork and control an illumination proximate to the current location ofthe personal device such that the illumination visually indicates theservice order and possibly other information.

In some other embodiments, lighting controller 400 may participate,along with at least personal device 100, a second personal mobileelectronic communication device, and communication network 200, intemporally ordering service orders received from the personal device.For example, after the communication network receives a signal includinga service order associated with the personal device, communicationnetwork 200 may subsequently receive another signal from a secondpersonal device, this signal including information corresponding to aservice order associated with the second personal device. Thecommunication network may associate a first priority with the serviceorder associated with one personal device and a second, lower priority,with the service order associated with another personal device beforetransmitting an illumination command associated with the service ordercorresponding to the first personal device via link 120 and a secondillumination command associated with the service order associated withthe other personal device via link 120. In such embodiments, lightingcontroller 400 may receive both illumination commands and proceed tocontrol an illumination proximate to the first personal device using oneor more individually controllable luminaires 500 such that theillumination visually indicates not only the service order associatedwith that personal device, but also indicates that this personaldevice's service order is associated with a first priority and isscheduled to be serviced next. Likewise, the lighting controller mayproceed to control an illumination proximate to the second personaldevice using the one or more individually controllable luminaires suchthat the illumination visually indicates not only the service orderassociated with the second personal device but also indicates that thesecond personal device's service order is associated with a lower secondpriority and is not scheduled to be serviced next.

Individually-controllable luminaires 500 are used by the lightingcontroller to control an illumination proximate to personal device 100such that the illumination visually indicates the service orderassociated with that personal device. In some embodiments, theseindividually controllable luminaires include one or more luminaires thatare installed in fixed locations, and are capable of communicating withlighting controller 400 via a lighting network. The lighting network maybe composed of, for example, dedicated hardware communication links. Insome other embodiments, luminaires 500 include one or more addressableluminaires which communicate through a lighting network that includesother types of communication links, for example, an Ethernet or awireless network connection. The communications between lightingcontroller 400 and luminaires 500 can include commands sent fromlighting controller 400 to luminaires 500. These commands can cause oneor more of the luminaires 500 to, for example, turn on, turn off,decrease or increase intensity, or change the spectral powerdistribution of their illumination.

According to some embodiments, the illumination proximate to personaldevice 100 created by luminaires 500 may be visible only through the useof technology comprising polarized spectacles and electronicallyshuttered spectacles. For example, luminaires 500 may repeatedlygenerate light pulses, technologies such as electronically shutteredspectacles may be synchronized to block the same slice of each lightingperiod, and luminaires 500 may be configured to shift one or more lightpulses into the time slice that is shuttered or blocked.

According to some other embodiments, the illumination proximate topersonal device 100 from luminaires 500 may comprise, for example, asingle color light and/or a sequence of lights having different colors.For example, the illumination proximate to personal device 100 may useonly a single color light to visually indicate the service orderassociated with such personal device. The illumination may also utilizemore than one color of light or a repeating sequence of differentlycolored lights to visually represent the service order associated withthe personal device.

In yet other embodiments, the illumination proximate to personal device100 created by luminaires 500 may be encoded with a modulated signalcorresponding to the service order associated with personal device 100.In such an embodiment, the personal device may employ at least onesensor for detecting the modulated signal as well as the ability tocapture the modulated signal. In such an embodiment, signal 110 mayinclude the modulated signal detected and captured by the personaldevice.

The term “luminaire” should be understood to refer to any one or more ofa variety of radiation sources, including, but not limited to, LED-basedsources (including one or more LEDs as defined above), incandescentsources (e.g., filament lamps, halogen lamps), fluorescent sources,phosphorescent sources, high-intensity discharge sources (e.g., sodiumvapor, mercury vapor, and metal halide lamps), lasers, other types ofelectroluminescent sources, pyro-luminescent sources (e.g., flames),candle-luminescent sources (e.g., gas mantles, carbon arc radiationsources), photo-luminescent sources (e.g., gaseous discharge sources),cathode luminescent sources using electronic satiation,galvano-luminescent sources, crystallo-luminescent sources,kine-luminescent sources, thermo-luminescent sources, triboluminescentsources, sonoluminescent sources, radioluminescent sources, andluminescent polymers.

A given luminaire may be configured to generate electromagneticradiation within the visible spectrum, outside the visible spectrum, ora combination of both. Hence, the terms “light” and “radiation” are usedinterchangeably herein. Additionally, a luminaire may include as anintegral component one or more filters (e.g., color filters), lenses, orother optical components. Also, it should be understood that luminairesmay be configured for a variety of applications, including, but notlimited to, indication, display, and/or illumination. An “illuminationsource” is a light source that is particularly configured to generateradiation having a sufficient intensity to effectively illuminate aninterior or exterior space. In this context, “sufficient intensity”refers to sufficient radiant power in the visible spectrum generated inthe space or environment (the unit “lumens” often is employed torepresent the total light output from a light source in all directions,in terms of radiant power or “luminous flux”) to provide ambientillumination (i.e., light that may be perceived indirectly and that maybe, for example, reflected off of one or more of a variety ofintervening surfaces before being perceived in whole or in part).

The term “spectrum” should be understood to refer to any one or morefrequencies (or wavelengths) of radiation produced by one or moreluminaires. Accordingly, the term “spectrum” refers to frequencies (orwavelengths) not only in the visible range, but also frequencies (orwavelengths) in the infrared, ultraviolet, and other areas of theoverall electromagnetic spectrum. Also, a given spectrum may have arelatively narrow bandwidth (e.g., a FWHM having essentially fewfrequency or wavelength components) or a relatively wide bandwidth(several frequency or wavelength components having various relativestrengths). It should also be appreciated that a given spectrum may bethe result of a mixing of two or more other spectra (e.g., mixingradiation respectively emitted from multiple light sources). The term“spectral power distribution” is understood to refer to the power perunit area per unit wavelength of an illumination, or the per-wavelengthcontribution to any radiometric quantity (e.g. radiant energy, radiantflux, radiant intensity, radiance, irradiance, radiant exitance, orradiosity).

For purposes of this disclosure, the term “color” is usedinterchangeably with the term “spectrum.” However, the term “color”generally is used to refer primarily to a property of radiation that isperceivable by an observer (although this usage is not intended to limitthe scope of this term). Accordingly, the term “different colors”implicitly refers to multiple spectra having different wavelengthcomponents and/or bandwidths. It also should be appreciated that theterm “color” may be used in connection with both white and non-whitelight.

FIG. 2 illustrates a light-based system 20 for communicating serviceorders according to some embodiments of the invention. System 20includes personal mobile electronic communication device (personaldevice) 100, communication network 200, memory 600, processor 300, andlighting controller 400 used with one or more individually controllableluminaires 500 in a lighting network. As illustrated in FIG. 2, personaldevice 100, according to some embodiments, features memory 101.

Embodiments of memory 101 and memory 600 include various types ofstorage media, e.g., volatile and non-volatile computer memory such asRAM, PROM, EPROM and EEPROM, floppy disks, compact disks, optical disks,magnetic tape. In some implementations, the storage media may be encodedwith one or more programs capable of being executed on a processor.Various storage media may be transportable, such that the one or moreprograms stored thereon can be loaded into a processor so as toimplement various aspects of the present invention discussed herein. Theterms “program” or “computer program” are used herein in a generic senseto refer to any type of computer code (e.g. software or microcode) thatcan be employed to program one or more processors.

In some embodiments of system 20, personal device 100 transmits firstand second signals via link 110, where the first signal relates to thelocation of personal device 100 and the second signal corresponds to aservice order associated with personal device 100. Personal device 100can be any type of personal mobile electronic communication devicedescribed with respect to personal device 100 of FIG. 1.

In such embodiments, memory 101 may store, for example, associationsbetween service orders and venues, associations between service ordersand times of the day, or simply one or more service orders associatedwith personal device 100. The service order transmitted via link 110 mayhave been retrieved from memory 101.

In some embodiments of system 20, communication network 200 receivessignals via link 110 from the personal device and, in response, queriesand retrieves via link 150 from memory 600, an illumination settingassociated with the service order received via link 110. In suchembodiments, communication network 200 may then transmit an illuminationcommand via link 120. Communication network 200 can be any type ofcommunication network described with respect to communication network200 of FIG. 1.

In some embodiments of system 20, processor 300 approximately ascertainsthe location of personal device 100 upon receiving via link 130 fromcommunication network 200, information indicative of the location of thepersonal device. The processor 300 can be any type of processordescribed above in connection with FIG. 1.

As FIG. 2 illustrates, in some embodiments, lighting controller 400receives the illumination command via link 120 generated bycommunication network 200 and, in response, controls an illuminationproximate to personal device 100 using one or more individuallycontrollable luminaires 500 in a lighting network. The lightingcontroller 400 can be any type of lighting controller described above inconnection with FIG. 1.

Individually controllable luminaires 500 are used by the lightingcontroller 400 to control an illumination proximate to the personalmobile electronic communication device 100 such that the illuminationvisually indicates the service order associated with personal device100. In some embodiments, individually controllable luminaires 500control the illumination proximate to personal device 100 byimplementing the light setting that was previously retrieved from memory600 and incorporated into the illumination command generated bycommunication network 200. In such embodiments, “implementing” a lightsetting may involve responding to commands from the lighting controller.These commands may cause some of luminaires 500 to, for example, turnon, turn off, or decrease or increase intensity, or change the spectralpower distribution of their illumination. Additionally, individuallycontrollable luminaires 500 may involve any type of the one or moreindividually controllable luminaires described above in connection withFIG. 1.

FIG. 3A illustrates a light-based system 30 for identifying personalitems according to some embodiments of the invention. System 30 includespersonal mobile electronic communication device (personal device) 100,personal item 700, communication network 200, memory 600, processor 300,lighting controller 400, and one or more individually-controllableluminaires 500 in a lighting network.

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, personal device 100 transmits a first signalindicative of a device identifier via link 110. Personal item 700transmits a second signal indicative of an item identifier via link 160.Personal device 100 can be any type of personal mobile electroniccommunication device described with respect to personal device 100 ofFIG. 1. In some embodiments, personal item 700 may include, for example,objects embedded with an RFID tag.

An “RFID tag” as used herein includes any object that can beincorporated into any other object in order that the objectincorporating the RFID tag may be tracked using radio waves. In someembodiments, an RFID tag may contain at least two parts: a first partinvolving an integrated circuit for performing such functions asmodulating and demodulating radio frequency signals, and a second partinvolving an antenna for receiving and transmitting radio-frequencysignals. Additionally, an RFID tag may be passive or active.

Communication network 200 receives the first signal via link 110 frompersonal device 100 and receives the second signal via link 160 from thepersonal item 700. Link 160 can be any type of link described withrespect to link 130 of FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the communicationnetwork determines the device identifier associated with personal device100 from the first signal and determines the item identifier associatedwith personal item 700 from the second signal, before transmitting boththe device identifier and the item identifier to processor 300 via link130. Additionally, communication network 200 can be any type ofcommunication network described with respect to communication network200 of FIG. 1.

In some embodiments of system 30, memory 600 associates deviceidentifiers with item identifiers. In other embodiments, the memory mayhave a different relationship to the elements in the system.

In some embodiments, processor 300 approximately ascertains the locationof the personal device 100 upon receiving, via link 130, fromcommunication network 200, information indicative of the location of thepersonal device. The processor may also query, via link 180, memory 600for an association between the device identifier and the item identifierreceived via link 130 from the communication network. The processor maythen generate and transmit an illumination command via link 190, wherethe illumination command is dependent upon the result of the query madevia link 180. The processor 300 can be any type of processor describedabove in connection with FIG. 1. Links 180, and 190 can be any type oflink described with respect to link 130 of FIG. 1.

In some embodiments of system 30, lighting controller 400 receives theillumination command via link 190 and in response, controls, via link140, an illumination proximate to personal item 700 via one or moreindividually controllable luminaires 500 in a lighting network. In suchembodiments, lighting controller 400 controls an illumination proximateto personal item 700 such that the illumination visually indicates theexistence of an association in memory 600 between personal item 700 andpersonal device 100. Moreover, lighting controller 400 can be any typeof lighting controller described with respect to lighting controller 400of FIG. 1.

Individually-controllable luminaires 500 are used by lighting controller400 to control an illumination proximate to personal item 700 such thatthe illumination visually indicates the existence of an association inmemory 600 between personal item 700 and personal device 100.Individually-controllable luminaires 500 may involve any type of the oneor more individually controllable luminaires described above inconnection with FIG. 1.

In some embodiments, the one or more individually-controllableluminaires 500 may include one or more LEDs embedded within personalitem 700. In other embodiments, the one or more LEDs may be constructedto be energy conscious. For example, the one or more LEDs may be poweredby one or more inductively charged energy storage components or the oneor more LEDs may be required to remain switched off until proximate topersonal device 100.

As used herein for purposes of the present disclosure, the term “LED”should be understood to include any electroluminescent diode or othertype of carrier injection/junction-based system that is capable ofgenerating radiation in response to an electric signal. Thus, the termLED includes, but is not limited to, various semiconductor-basedstructures that emit light in response to current, light emittingpolymers, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), electroluminescentstrips, and the like. In particular, the term LED refers to lightemitting diodes of all types (including semi-conductor and organic lightemitting diodes) that may be configured to generate radiation in one ormore of the infrared spectrum, ultraviolet spectrum, and variousportions of the visible spectrum (generally including radiationwavelengths from approximately 400 nanometers to approximately 700nanometers). Some examples of LEDs include, but are not limited to,various types of infrared LEDs, ultraviolet LEDs, red LEDs, blue LEDs,green LEDs, yellow LEDs, amber LEDs, orange LEDs, and white LEDs(discussed further below). It also should be appreciated that LEDs maybe configured and/or controlled to generate radiation having variousbandwidths (e.g., full widths at half maximum, or FWHM) for a givenspectrum (e.g., narrow bandwidth, broad bandwidth), and a variety ofdominant wavelengths within a given general color categorization.

For example, one implementation of an LED configured to generateessentially white light (e.g., a white LED) may include a number of dieswhich respectively emit different spectra of electroluminescence that,in combination, mix to form essentially white light. In anotherimplementation, a white light LED may be associated with a phosphormaterial that converts electroluminescence having a first spectrum to adifferent second spectrum. In one example of this implementation,electroluminescence having a relatively short wavelength and narrowbandwidth spectrum “pumps” the phosphor material, which in turn radiateslonger wavelength radiation having a somewhat broader spectrum.

It should also be understood that the term LED does not limit thephysical and/or electrical package type of an LED. For example, asdiscussed above, an LED may refer to a single light emitting devicehaving multiple dies that are configured to respectively emit differentspectra of radiation (e.g., that may or may not be individuallycontrollable). Also, an LED may be associated with a phosphor that isconsidered as an integral part of the LED (e.g., some types of whiteLEDs). In general, the term LED may refer to packaged LEDs, non-packagedLEDs, surface mount LEDs, chip-on-board LEDs, T-package mount LEDs,radial package LEDs, power package LEDs, LEDs including some type ofencasement and/or optical element (e.g., a diffusing lens), etc.

In some embodiments of system 30, lighting controller 400 furthercontrols, via link 140, the illumination proximate to personal item 700,to visually indicate the existence of an association in memory 600between personal item 700 and personal device 100, by requiring that theindividually-controllable luminaires 500 create a first coloredillumination to signify the existence of an association between thepersonal item 700 and personal device 100 and a second coloredillumination to signify the lack of such an association.

In other embodiments of system 30, personal device 100 transmits a modesignal encoding a lighting scheme according to which personal item 700is to be illuminated. The lighting scheme may, for example, dictate theuse of a specific colored illumination or the use of a sequence ofcolored illuminations.

In some other embodiments of system 30, processor 300 may generate asound command based on whether or not an association between personaldevice 100 and personal item 700 exists in memory 600. According to suchembodiments, system 30 may further include a sound controller thatreceives the sound command from the processor and controls a soundproximate to the personal item such that the sound indicates whether ornot an association exists in memory 600 between the personal item andthe personal device.

FIG. 3B illustrates aspects of embodiments of system 30 that participatein creating initial associations between device identifiers and itemidentifiers. As depicted in FIG. 3B, a first memory is queried for anassociation between the device identifier and the item identifier(3100). The first memory queried may comprise, for example, memory 600.If the response to the query indicates the existence of an associationbetween the device identifier and item identifier, an illuminationcommand may be generated to signify a pre-existing association betweenthe item identifier and the device identifier (3200). If, however, thereis an indication that an association between the item identifier and thedevice identifier does not exist in the first memory, a second memorymay be queried to determine if the item identifier is in included in thesecond memory (3300). In such an embodiment, if there is in anindication that the item identifier is included in the second memory, anillumination command signifying no association between the itemidentifier and the device identifier may be generated (3400). If,alternatively, there is in an indication that the item identifier is notincluded in the second memory, an association between the itemidentifier and the device identifier may be created in the first memoryand the item identifier may be included in the second memory (3500).After that, an illumination command, signifying an initial associationin the first memory between the item identifier and device identifier,may be generated (3600).

In some other embodiments of system 30, the communication network 200further identifies the device identifier received from personal device100 as associated with a non-patron before transmitting the itemidentifier to processor 300. In such embodiments, the processor 300 maythen further query, via link 180, memory 600 for the existence of anassociation involving the item identifier. If the result of query vialink 180 indicates that an association involving the item identifierexists in memory 600, processor 300 may delete the association involvingthe item identifier from memory 600 and generate an illumination commandsignifying an unassociated personal item ready for re-association with apersonal device.

According to some embodiments of system 30, system 30 comprises a userinterface for entering item identifiers into memory 101. The term “userinterface” as used herein refers to an interface between a human user oroperator and one or more devices that enables communication between theuser and the device(s). Examples of user interfaces that may be employedin various implementations of the present disclosure include, but arenot limited to, switches, potentiometers, buttons, dials, sliders, amouse, keyboard, keypad, various types of game controllers (e.g.,joysticks), track balls, display screens, various types of graphicaluser interfaces (GUIs), touch screens, microphones and other types ofsensors that may receive some form of human-generated stimulus andgenerate a signal in response thereto.

FIG. 4A illustrates a light-based system 40 for communicating serviceorders according to some embodiments of the invention. System 40includes personal mobile electronic communication device (personaldevice) 100, personal item 700, communication network 200, lightingcontroller 400, and one or more individually-controllable luminaires 500in a lighting network.

As illustrated in FIG. 4A, personal device 100 includes memory 101,processor 102, transmitter 103, and receiver 104. The personal devicecan be any type of personal device described with respect to personaldevice 100 of FIG. 1.

Memory 101 stores one or more item identifiers associated with personaldevice 100. Memory 101 can also be any type of memory described withrespect to memory 101 of FIG. 2.

According to some embodiments of system 40, personal item 700 transmitsa signal encoding an item identifier via link 170. Link 170 can be anytype of link described with respect to link 130 of FIG. 1. Personal item700 can be any type of personal item described with respect to personalitem 700 of FIG. 3.

Receiver 104 receives the signal transmitted by personal item 700 vialink 170. Processor 102 determines the item identifier encoded in thesignal received via link 170 and queries, via link 180, memory 101 todetermine if memory 101 includes the item identifier. Based on theresult of the query, processor 102 generates a report and transmitter103 transmits one or more signals encoding the report and informationindicative of the location of personal device 100 via link 110.Processor 102 can be any type of processor described with respect toprocessor 300 of FIG. 1.

Communication network 200 receives the one or more signals via link 110from transmitter 103 and transmits, in response, an illumination commandvia link 120. Communication network 200 can be any type of communicationnetwork described with respect to communication network 200 of FIG. 1.According to some embodiments, the communication network, receiving theone or more signals incorporating information indicative of the locationof personal device 100, approximately ascertains the location of thispersonal device using technology including GPS, assisted GPS,triangulation, signal strength analysis and accelerometer technology. Insome embodiments of system 40, a second processor, communicativelycoupled to communication network 200 generates and transmits theillumination command.

Lighting controller 400, receiving the illumination command, controls,via link 140, an illumination proximate to personal item 700 using oneor more individually-controllable luminaires 500 in a lighting network.Lighting controller 400 can be any type of lighting controller describedwith respect to lighting controller 400 of FIG. 1.

The individually-controllable luminaires 500 are used by lightingcontroller 400 to control an illumination proximate to personal item 700such that the illumination visually indicates that the item identifiertransmitted via link 170 and associated with personal item 700, isincluded within memory 101 of personal device 100. Additionally,individually-controllable luminaires 500 may involve any type of the oneor more individually controllable luminaires described with respect toluminaires 500 of FIG. 1.

According to some embodiments of system 40, system 40 comprises a userinterface for entering item identifiers into memory 101. The userinterface can be any type of user interface described with respect toFIG. 3.

Additionally or alternatively, in embodiments of system 40, processor102 can participate in adding item identifiers to memory 101 withinpersonal device 100. FIG. 4B illustrates such an embodiment. Asillustrated in FIG. 4B, a first memory is queried to determine if theitem identifier transmitted by personal item 700 is included in thefirst memory (4100). The first memory may employ memory 101 includedwithin personal device 100. If the query results in an indication thatthe first memory contains the item identifier, a report may be generatedto indicate the inclusion of the item identifier associated withpersonal item 700 within the first memory (4200). Alternatively, if thequery results in an indication that the first memory does not containthe item identifier, a second memory may be queried via communicationnetwork 200, in order to determine if the item identifier transmitted bythe personal item is included in the second memory (4300). If the queryof the second memory results in an indication that the second memorycontains the item identifier, then a report may be generated to indicatethat first memory does not include the item identifier associated withpersonal item 700 (4400). Alternatively, if there is an indication thatthe second memory does not contain the item identifier associated withpersonal item 700, the item identifier may be added to both the firstand the second memories (4500). After that, a report also may begenerated to indicate the initial inclusion of the item identifierassociated with the personal item within the first memory (4600).

FIG. 5 illustrates a light-based system 50 for identifying personalitems according to some embodiments of the invention. System 50 includespersonal mobile electronic communication device (personal device) 100,personal item 700, RFID sensor 800, communication network 200, memory600, processor 300, lighting controller 400, and one or moreindividually controllable luminaires 500 in a lighting network.

As depicted in FIG. 5, personal device 100 includes RFID tag 1001.Personal device 100 can be any type of personal device described withrespect to personal device 100 of FIG. 1. RFID tag 1001 can be any typeof RFID tag described with respect to personal item 700 in FIG. 3.Additionally, the personal device transmits signal indicative of adevice identifier associated with itself via link 110.

As depicted in FIG. 5, personal item 700 includes RFID tag 1002. Again,RFID tag 1002 can be any type of RFID tag described with respect topersonal item 700 in FIG. 3. Personal item 700 transmits a signalindicative of an item identifier associated with itself via link 160.Additionally, the personal item can be any type of personal itemdescribed with respect to personal item 700 in FIG. 3.

Also as depicted in FIG. 5, system 50 includes at least one RFID sensor800. RFID sensor 800 detects the proximity of RFID tag 1001 includedwithin personal device 100 and RFID tag 1002 included within personalitem 700, and transmits a signal indicative of its own location via link210.

Communication network 200 receives the signal via link 110 from personaldevice 100, the signal via link 210 from the RFID sensor 800, and thesignal via link 160 from personal item 700. In some embodiments, thecommunication network determines the device identifier associated withthe personal device from the signal received via link 110 and determinesthe item identifier associated with personal item 700 from the signalreceived via link 160. In such embodiments, communication network 200then transmits via link 130 the device identifier, the item identifier,and information indicative of the location of the RFID sensor 800.Communication network 200 can be any type of communication networkdescribed with respect to communication network 200 of FIG. 1.

Memory 600 associates device identifiers with item identifiers.Additionally, memory 600 can be any type of memory described withrespect to memory 600 of FIG. 2.

Processor 300 approximately ascertains the location of personal device100 upon receiving, via link 130, from communication network 200,information indicative of the location of the RFID sensor 800. Theprocessor also queries memory 600, via link 180, for an associationbetween the device identifier and the item identifier received via link130 from communication network 200, before generating and transmitting,via link 190, an illumination command based upon the result of thequery. Processor 300 can be any type of processor described with respectto processor 300 of FIG. 1.

Lighting controller 400 receives the illumination command transmittedvia link 190 and, in response, controls, via link 140, an illuminationproximate to personal item 700 via one or more individually controllableluminaires 500 in a lighting network. In some embodiments, lightingcontroller 400 controls the illumination such that the illuminationvisually indicates the existence of an association in memory 600 betweenthe item identifier associated with personal item 700 and the deviceidentifier associated with personal device 100. Additionally, lightingcontroller 400 can be any type of lighting controller described withrespect to lighting controller 400 of FIG. 1.

Individually controllable luminaires 500 are used by lighting controller400 to control an illumination proximate to personal item 700.Additionally, individually controllable luminaires 500 may involve anytype of the one or more individually controllable luminaires describedwith respect to luminaires 500 of FIG. 1.

While several inventive embodiments have been described and illustratedherein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision avariety of other means and/or structures for performing the functionand/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantagesdescribed herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications isdeemed to be within the scope of the inventive embodiments describedherein. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations describedherein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters,dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon thespecific application or applications for which the inventive teachingsis/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able toascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalentsto the specific inventive embodiments described herein. It is,therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presentedby way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claimsand equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described and claimed. Inventiveembodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individualfeature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein.In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent,is included within the inventive scope of the present disclosure.

All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood tocontrol over dictionary definitions, definitions in documentsincorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the definedterms.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in thespecification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.” The phrase“and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, shouldbe understood to mean “either or both” of the elements so conjoined,i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases anddisjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with“and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” ofthe elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be presentother than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause,whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified.Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when usedin conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer,in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other thanB); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionallyincluding other elements); etc.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should beunderstood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. Forexample, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall beinterpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, butalso including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and,optionally, additional unlisted items. Also, the phrase “at least one,”in reference to a list of one or more elements, should be understood tomean at least one element selected from any one or more of the elementsin the list of elements, but not necessarily including at least one ofeach and every element specifically listed within the list of elementsand not excluding any combinations of elements in the list of elements.This definition also allows that elements may optionally be presentother than the elements specifically identified within the list ofelements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether related orunrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as anon-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “atleast one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) canrefer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including morethan one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements otherthan B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally includingmore than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionallyincluding more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including morethan one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

It should also be understood that, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, in any methods claimed herein that include more than one stepor act, the order of the steps or acts of the method is not necessarilylimited to the order in which the steps or acts of the method arerecited.

In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitionalphrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,”“containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are tobe understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limitedto. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consistingessentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases,respectively.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A light-based system for identifyingpersonal items comprising: a personal mobile electronic communicationdevice transmitting a first signal for indicating a device identifier; aprocessor approximately ascertaining the location of the personal mobileelectronic communication device by a GPS or signal analysis technology;a personal item transmitting a second signal for indicating an itemidentifier; a memory associating the device identifier with the itemidentifier; a communication network receiving the first signal from thepersonal mobile electronic communication device and the second signalfrom the personal item, determining the device identifier from the firstsignal and the item identifier from the second signal, and transmittingthe device identifier and the item identifier to the processor, whereinthe processor checks the memory for an association between the deviceidentifier and the item identifier, and generates an illuminationcommand dependent on the association; a lighting controller separatefrom the personal mobile electronic communication device and personalitem and operably controlling a plurality of luminaires in a room,receiving the illumination command and, in response to the illuminationcommand, controlling an illumination proximate to the personal item byat least one individually-controllable luminaire of the plurality ofluminaires in a lighting network such that the illumination proximate tothe personal item visually indicates the association between thepersonal item and the personal mobile electronic communication device;and wherein the lighting controller further controls the illumination tovisually indicate the association in the memory with a firstillumination and to visually indicate a lack of association in thememory with a second illumination different than the first illumination.2. The light-based system of claim 1, further comprising a userinterface for entering the association between the device identifier andthe item identifier into the memory.
 3. The light-based system of claim1, wherein the processor generates a sound command dependent on theassociation, and wherein a sound controller receives the sound commandand controls a sound proximate to the personal item such that the soundindicates the association between the personal item and the personalmobile electronic communication device.
 4. The light-based system ofclaim 1, wherein the processor, after checking the memory for anassociation between the device identifier and the item identifier andfailing to find the association, further checks a second memory for theitem identifier, creating an initial association between the deviceidentifier and the item identifier in the memory and adding the itemidentifier to the second memory when the second memory does not containthe item identifier, and further generates a further illuminationcommand based on the initial association, and the lighting controllerreceiving the further illumination command, controls a furtherillumination proximate to the personal item such that the furtherillumination visually indicates the initial association between thepersonal item and the personal mobile electronic communication device.5. The light-based system of claim 1, wherein the personal mobileelectronic communication device further transmits a mode signal, themode signal encoding a lighting scheme by which to illuminate thepersonal item, the lighting scheme comprising the use of lights in oneor more colors and the use of a sequence of colored-lights, and whereinthe lighting controller controls the illumination proximate to thepersonal item to visually indicate the association between the personalitem and the personal mobile electronic communication device such thatthe illumination is consistent with the lighting scheme encoded in themode single.
 6. The light-based system of claim 1, wherein thecommunication network further identifies the device identifier asassociated with a non-patron before transmitting the item identifier tothe processor, and wherein the processor further checks the memory for asecond association involving the item identifier and deletes the secondassociation from the memory.
 7. The light-based system of claim 1,wherein the personal item includes one or more light emitting diodes andthe at least one individually controllable luminaire comprises the oneor more light emitting diodes.
 8. A light-based system for identifyingpersonal items comprising: a personal item transmitting a first signalencoding a first item identifier; a personal mobile electroniccommunication device, wherein the personal mobile electroniccommunication device comprises a memory storing the first itemidentifier; a receiver receiving the first signal from the firstpersonal item, a processor determining the first item identifier fromthe first signal, checking the memory for the first item identifier, andgenerating a report dependent on storage of the first item identifier inthe memory; and a transmitter transmitting a second signal encoding thereport and a third signal for indicating a location of the personalmobile electronic communication device; and a communication networkreceiving the second signal and the third signal from the personalmobile electronic communication device and transmitting an illuminationcommand; and a lighting controller separate from the personal item andthe personal mobile electronic communication device for controlling aplurality of luminaires for overhead lighting in a room and receivingthe illumination command and, in response to the illumination command,controlling an illumination proximate to the personal item by at leastone of the plurality of individually-controllable luminaires in alighting network such that the illumination proximate to the personalitem visually indicates the inclusion of the item identifier in thememory of the personal mobile electronic communication device and,wherein the illumination command is generated by a second processorcommunicatively coupled to the communication network.
 9. The light-basedsystem of claim 8, further comprising a user interface for entering theitem identifier into the memory.
 10. The light-based system of claim 8,wherein the communication network receiving the third signal from thepersonal mobile electronic communication device approximately ascertainsthe location of the personal mobile electronic communication device by atechnology consisting of at least one of GPS, assisted GPS,triangulation, signal strength analysis, and accelerometer technology.11. The light-based system of claim 8, wherein the processor, afterchecking the memory for the item identifier and failing to find the itemidentifier in the memory, checks a second memory via the communicationnetwork for the item identifier, and adds the item identifier to thememory in the event that the second memory does not contain the itemidentifier.
 12. A light-based system for identifying personal itemscomprising: a personal mobile electronic communication device fortransmitting a first signal for indicating an item identifier; aprocessor for at least approximately ascertaining the location of thepersonal mobile electronic communication device; a memory forassociating the item identifier with an item location for a personalitem; a communication network for receiving the first signal from thepersonal mobile electronic communication device, for determining theitem identifier from the first signal, and for transmitting the itemidentifier to the processor, wherein the processor checks the memory forthe presence of the item location associated with the item identifierand generates an illumination command based upon the association; and alighting controller controlling a plurality of individually controllableluminaires in a lighting network and separate from the personal item,the lighting controller operable to control the plurality of luminairesin a room containing the personal item, the lighting controller operablefor receiving the illumination command and, in response to theillumination command, for controlling a first illumination from a firstluminaire in the lighting network proximate to the personal item and asecond illumination from a second luminaire in the lighting networkproximate to the personal mobile electronic communication device forvisually indicating a link between the personal item and the personalmobile electronic communication device using the first illumination andthe second illumination.
 13. The light-based system of claim 12, furthercomprising a pair of electronically shuttered spectacles for making theillumination visible and for blocking vision using time slices and lightpulses introduced into the blocked time slices.